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The ‘taxi war’ in Barcelona plans again on the Mobile World Congress

In addition to the conditions of the Covid pandemic, which already forced the suspension of the 2020 edition and which threaten this year’s edition again after the decision of Ericsson If you do not participate, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona may find itself in June with an additional setback. If two years ago the metro workers’ strike made it difficult for those attending the technology fair to move, this time visitors could find that there were no taxis circulating in the city.

The association Elite Taxi has threatened mobilizations in the coming weeks and during the theoretical dates of the MWC [del 28 de junio al 1 de julio] after Uber’s announcement to operate again in Barcelona starting next Tuesday. With a model similar to the one that works in the Madrid’s community, the American company assures that it has 350 taxi drivers who would work with its application to begin what would be its third attempt to settle permanently in the Catalan capital.

The association that has led the strikes in the sector in recent years in the Barcelona metropolitan area, as well as the Catalan Taxi Union, has shown its rejection of Uber using its software in the community. His spokesperson, Alberto Tito à ?? lvarez, ensures that the platform passenger cars with driver (VTC) “does not meet the standards and does not have the transparency required by the Metropolitan Taxi Institute (Imet) “. In addition, it questions the number of 350 professionals who have already agreed to work for the company.

Uber intends to use the official closed price rate that marks the Imet, but the public body that regulates the operation of the taxi in Barcelona would not have accepted it, at least for now. The temporary solution, according to company officials, would be to use the method of taxímetro.

Uber decided to abandon its activity in Barcelona at the beginning of 2019 after the decree law of the Generalitat that obliges to establish a minimum waiting time of 15 minutes to offer the transport service to customers. It had previously done so in 2014, following the ruling of the Commercial Court number 2 of Madrid that ordered the cessation of its activity in Spain.

The North American company has announced special conditions for taxi drivers who want to adhere to its application in the city, as incentives to acquire a electric vehicle. In Madrid it is estimated that there are more than 1,500 taxi drivers currently working for Uber.

Last year, before the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress due to the coronavirus, taxi drivers had also threatened to call protests during the days when the technology show was to be held in Barcelona, ​​although they finally reached a agreement with the Catalan Government and the City Council regarding their complaints about compliance with the regulation of VTC activity.

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